At the end of last year, December 14th, Rostock University celebrated its 600-year anniversary – Polish and German ophthalmologists met in Rostock for the First Baltic Sea Eye Conference. Prof. Thomas Fuchsluger, director of the Eye Clinic and Outpatient Department of Rostock Medical University, and Prof. Anna Machalinska, head of the First Department of Ophthalmology, Pomeranian Medical University Szczecin, invited participants for this German-Polish Winter Academy (Figures 1-3).
The main topics were the treatment of corneal and vitreoretinal diseases and glaucoma. Selected lectures shall be reported.
“Clinical trial on limbal stem cell culture in treating corneal disorders” was the theme of dr hab. n. med. Dariusz Dobrowolski (Katowice). He explained the autologous cultivated limbal stem cell transplantation (ACLSCT) for restoring the corneal epithelium as the basis for later corneal surgery. His results of two years for epithelium, cultivated on fibrin gel, showed success in 10 patients (primary success 5 patients, DALK candidates 3 patients, PK candidates 2 patients) and four failures (need of a second graft of cultivated epithelial cells 2 patients, total failure 2 patients).
“Big bubble versus stripping: techniques for preparation of the donor Descemet’s membrane”, Dr. rer. nat. Patrick Merz (Heidelberg) explained that scraping might take half an hour, whereas the dissection with a liquid bubble, trypan-blue colored, takes mostly only a few minutes. So the side of the Descemet’s membrane adjacent to the corneal stroma is identified by the blue color, important for the consecutive correct transplantation.
In “Corneal surgery – update and future developments”, Prof. Fuchsluger explained the “two forceps preparation technique” and the standardized implantation, an air bubble serves as a “third hand“ to unfurl the transplant.
In “Modern keratoplasty, own experience”, Prof. Machalinska described keratoconus and cloudiness of cornel stroma as indications for DALK (deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty). For DSAEK (Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty) she recommended as indications Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy and iatrogenic bullous keratopathy, especially in complicated status. She preferred DMEK (Descemet’s membrane endothelial keratoplasty) in the first line for uncomplicated cases, but also experienced good results in previous...